Katha Pollitt writing in the Nation about the Hilary Rosen/Ann Romney fracas:

But the brouhaha over Hilary Rosen’s injudicious remarks is not really about whether what stay-home mothers do is work. Because we know the answer to that: it depends. When performed by married women in their own homes, domestic labor is work—difficult, sacred, noble work. Ann says Mitt called it more important work than his own, which does make you wonder why he didn’t stay home with the boys himself. When performed for pay, however, this supremely important, difficult job becomes low-wage labor that almost anyone can do—teenagers, elderly women, even despised illegal immigrants. But here’s the real magic: when performed by low-income single mothers in their own homes, those same exact tasks—changing diapers, going to the playground and the store, making dinner, washing the dishes, giving a bath—are not only not work; they are idleness itself.

. . . that I think many claims of sexual harassment in the workplace should be viewed with some skepticism and close scrutiny. Sure, sometimes it’s real and ugly and all that stuff. But far too often it’s not. I’ve known young women who see harassment in a clumsy compliment, and seem not to know the difference.

Via Digby, here’s what was printed in a newspaper of the conservative (nay, fundamentalist) Hasidic Jewish sect after the bin Laden capture. The paper does not publish pictures of women. (And they dealt with Golda Meir how?)

And here’s the picture seen in the rest of the world.

Many orthodox non-Hasidic Jewish women cover their hair, often wearing wigs perhaps – as with my own experience below – to admit of submission.

As a young Catholic girl in church, I was required to wear head covering to, I assume, appear submissive.

Muslim women in many parts of the world are required to do the same and in ultra-orthordox societies to cover their faces and bodies as well. And we know that’s to show submission to their betters.

Religions – at least the monotheistic Abrahamic ones – don’t think much of the girls. Count me a feminist. And tell Mr. Limbaugh of Palm Beach it isn’t over yet.

From an email I just received – twice – from women friends. A brief and sadly incomplete list of the little things Republicans try to do to women and their filthy offspring. (I used to think it was only the Catholic Church that officially hated women, but I may have to admit the GOP to those ranks.)

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women’s access to abortion care, they’re actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven’t.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to “accuser.” But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain “victims.”

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.

5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids’ preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8.) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn’t enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program.

One outcome of the 70’s Feminist movement was the introduction of a much needed new form of address into our language, a universal, generic form of address for women.

Men had always had such a form – “Mr”. On the other hand, women were forced to broadcast their social status – by using either “Miss” or “Mrs”. It was a pretty serious handicap for working women particularly. Or a woman seeking credit.

It also created awkward moments when addressing a woman with whom you were not acquainted – Hello Miss Smith? Hello Mrs. Smith? Whoops? Sorry.

“Ms” was introduced as a sensible replacement for the previous two forms. It was immediately and widely embraced.

Except . . . except for those for whom moving wimmin’ out of the kitchen was the devil’s own work and likely the beginning of the end of our Christian nation.

So a politically correct compromise was applied and it made the situation much much worse.

Now on forms are all those annoying check boxes where I must announce myself as either:

Mrs. – I am married and quite traditional. Thank you.

Miss – Unmarried and a little timid, if that’s okay. Also, I work at Publix.

For the first time in decades, and because I’m seriously overdue for a haircut, I rolled curlers into my newly shampooed hair this morning. It’s been so long that I had some difficulty doing it. (Why hadn’t I tossed them out after ten years? fifteen years? twenty years?)

What are you looking at?

How the lives of American women have changed! As a young woman (when, ironically, I probably had the best figure of my life) I wore a girdle. I ‘set’ my hair every night. I laid out my next-day clothes the night before, freshly ironed of course. I was, after all, merchandise on the market. In those days newspapers separated their help wanted classified ads into Help Wanted WOMEN and Help Wanted MEN. Often the same jobs, but of course the pay scale was quite different. And until the 70’s, we considered this to be normal. In fact, many of us didn’t even think about it.

I like today much better. Those curlers brought back many memories, and triggered thoughts of the future. By the time my great nieces and nephews are adult, gender should have ceased to be of much import (except in terms of reproduction and/or its attendant delights).

Back when I was sleeping on metal rollers every night, many in today’s military hadn’t even been born. Their lives have changed too, because thousands of them are in Afghanistan, where it is the 117th day of the ninth year of the War there.